Now Voyager (1942)

A repressed and unattractive Bostonian spinster (Bette Davis) lives with her elderly mother (Gladys Cooper) who dominates her life. After a nervous breakdown and some time in a sanitarium, she goes on a sea voyage to South America to regain her health. It is on the cruise that she meets an unhappily married man (Paul Henreid) and her life is changed forever. Based on the novel by Olive Higgins Prouty and directed by Irving Rapper. One of the greatest and most popular of movie romances, NOW VOYAGER contains one of Bette Davis's very best performances. The film is one of the first to deal with psychiatric therapy and its positive effect on mental health in a realistic manner. It's a soap opera of the first order that is elevated by its adult romanticism and fine performances all around. The underscore by Max Steiner finds him going the extra mile and a special commendation to Orry Kelly for his costumes, Davis has never looked more glamorous. With Claude Rains, Bonita Granville, John Loder, Ilka Chase, Franklin Pangborn, Mary Wickes and Janis Wilson.